10 different ways Ashfur tried to kill Brambleclaw
by Icetail
Summary: I narrowed my eyes. A cat like Brambleclaw couldn't be trusted. And I would NOT let Squirrelflight be happy with him. I padded deeper into the forest, lost in thought. Something had to be done; something to get rid of Brambleclaw.
1. The beginning

_Special thanks to ServalSpirit..._

"Look Ashfur." Squirrelflight's voice told me that she was trying hard to keep her temper. "I really care about you as a friend, but I don't want more than that."

"But I love you!" I protested. More hesitantly, I added, "We'd be great together, Squirrelflight, I know we would." Desperation gripped me, as I realized that I was loosing her affection.

"I'm sorry," Squirrelflight went on. "I never meant to hurt you, but Brambleclaw-well, I think StarClan has destined us to be together."

"I don't know how you can say that!" I yowled angrily with a hint of a snarl in my voice. "You said yourself that it's impossible to trust a cat with Brambleclaw's heritage. He's a great cat, I know, but he's still Tigerstar's son."

"I'll judge Brambleclaw by his own actions," she retorted hotly. "Not by something other cats did long before I was even born."

"I'm only thinking of you, Squirrelflight," I meowed softly. "_I _can remember Tigerstar. His paws were red with blood of innocent cats. You know he murdered my mother to lure a pack of dogs into our camp?"

"I know, and I'm so sorry," Squirrelflight meowed so softly that she was barely audible. I snorted, she didn't really care; no one did. "But that doesn't mean Brambleclaw will turn out like his father."

"And how do _you _know?!" I yowled as loud as I could. Prey ran into their holes in the ground; frightened. Squirrelflight turned without saying anything.

"I'm sorry, Ashfur, but that's my final decision." she turned and padded back into camp.

I narrowed my eyes. A cat like Brambleclaw couldn't be trusted. And I would _not _let Squirrelflight be happy with him. I padded deeper into the forest, lost in thought. Something had to be done; something to get rid of Brambleclaw. And that's when I figured out that the only way to get around this problem was to either:

A) Break them up, or B) Kill Brambleclaw.


	2. Plan A

I opened my eyes as something sharp prodded me in the side, waking me from a dream I was having about Squirrelflight.

"Ashfur, _Ashfur! _Wake up!" someone mewed urgently. I opened one eye, and saw that my sister, Ferncloud, was standing in front of me. I jumped up form my warm nest, and looked her straight in the eye.

"What do you want?" I asked groggily.

"I have to tell you something!" she covered her chest with a few licks.

"Can't it wait?"

"It's really important!" she was making such a fuss that I would feel bad if I made her go away.

"Is something wrong...?" I asked sleepily.

"No! It's something good!" she snapped.

"What is it?"

"I'm going to have kits!" she meowed excitedly.

I sighed. This was nothing special, because knowing my sister, she had a new litter almost every day. Well, maybe that's exaggerating a little bit, but still, she reproduced a rabbit! "That's great." I said finally.

"I've just told Dustpelt; he's thrilled!" Ferncloud meowed.

I nodded my head, not really listening to my sister. The main thing on my mind was how to get rid of Brambleclaw. I looked down at my paws, and closed my eyes, trying to think.

"-So I was thinking, if I have a girl kit, I'm going to name it Icekit, and if it's a boy, then maybe Brownkit, or Foxkit-" My sister droned on and on, and I groaned. Whenever my sister was going to have kits, she seemed to get very talkative.

"-I asked Dustpelt what he thinks, and he said that we should probably wait and see what they look like, because we can't name them before we see them, can we? So-" she stopped in mid-sentence. I looked up, wondering where the noise had gone. She seemed to be glaring at me.

"Something wrong?" I asked.

"Were you even listening to me?" she meowed angrily.

"Of course I was," I meowed, getting up and stretching. "That's great news. Kits!" I padded out of the den, and my sister followed.

"What are you going to do now?" she asked me.

"Oh, I don't know, maybe I'll go hunting..." I said vaguely, not intending to go hunting at all. "How about you?"

"I have to go make myself a nest in the nursery, since I'm moving in there." she meowed.

I nodded absently. Ferncloud cocked her head to one side.

"Are you okay?" she asked worriedly.

"Why wouldn't I be?" I asked, cocking my head the opposite way.

"You seem kind of... distant." she said, groping for the right word.

"I'm fine." I meowed rudely. I needed to go and work on my plan, and just sitting here and talking to Ferncloud _wasn't helping!_

"Oh," she licked the base of her tail. "I'll see you later then." she bounded over to the fresh-kill pile.

Finally! I thought, as I made my way to the entrance of camp. To my disgust, none other than Brambleclaw, the most despicable cat alive, was on guard duty. I decided to walk by dramatically, and hiss at him before I would disappear into the darkness of the forest.

As I prepared to stalk past him, he called out, "Hey Ahfur, why aren't you training Birchpaw?"

"_That_," I glared at him. "Is none of of your business." I said rudely. _So much for my dramatic entrance_.I stalked past him, and turned to hiss.

"I can handle my own apprentice, thank you very much." I meowed dramatically.

Brambleclaw shrugged, and settled down. So I decided to go and get to work. I had already decided what I was going to make. It would be hard, but worth it.

**OoOoOoOoOoOoO**

Now that's what I call art-work! I marvled my work after a long time. It was a statue of Squirrelflight, and if I may say so myself; it was very artistic.

My plan was to get a large rock, put it onto a branch directly on top of it, and then wait until Brambleclaw would come. Since Brambleclaw is so mouse-brained, and since my art-work is so good, he will think that it is the real Squirrelflight. Then, I am to drop the rock onto Brambleclaw's head, and _boom! _Bye-bye Brambleclaw! I couldn't wait to see Squirrelflight's face when she figured out that her precious mate would be gone. Then, she might fall in love with me.

I imagined myself with Squirrelflight and sighed. What a great match we would make.

Now, back to my genius plan. I clambered up the tree, and waited with my rock. Soon, Brambleclaw was bound to come along. I looked up at the sky, and saw that it was sun-high. I must have been out a long time.

Suddenly, I heard a rustle in the bushes. Then, I noticed a mouse was scrambling around the roots of a tree close to my statue. I blinked, and then, Brambleclaw came out of the bush, stalking the mouse. My eyes widened. Brambleclaw looked at my statue, and cocked his head to one side.

"What's that?" he wondered aloud.

Anger flared inside of me. _Why couldn't he tell that it was Squirrelflight?!_

Brambleclaw cautiously approached it, and I prepared to make my move. Right when Brambleclaw was directly below me, I pushed the rock. But the rock didn't move. Mouse-dung! I looked underneath the rock, and saw that it was stuck in some sap from the tree. I closed my eyes angrily as Brambleclaw shrugged again and left. Proabably to hunt some more.

As I slowly made my way down from the tree, I decided to take a look at my art-work one more time before I went back to camp. It really was beautiful, and I have no idea why the mouse-brain didn't know what it was. I went over to investigate it, and saw that it would probably rot in a few days, since it was made from leaves and mud. Sadness gripped me as I realized that this would probably be the last time I would ever get so close to a Squirrelflight. I rubbed my head against the sculpture, and pretended that this was the real Squirreflight. It was just bad luck that the rock didn't budge, because this was really a good plan to exterminate Brambleclaw.

I looked up at the branch, and thought, wouldn't it be just plain bad luck if it would fall on me instead? After all, I'm not a very lucky cat, and sitting underneath a rock wasn't very smart. I rubbed my head against the sculpture again, and _boom! _The rock fell on me.

Ouch, I guess that plan back-fired. Now lets move on to plan B.


	3. Plan B

I watched the main clearing of the camp through narrowed eyes. I have to admit that my spirits were kind of low since Plan A failed. As always, the clearing was alive with energy of the camp. The apprentices were playing, the warriors were eating and sharing tongues, and the elders were sunning themselves.

I had no idea what my new plan was going to be, but one thing I knew for sure was that it would involve Brambleclaw. I moved my gaze over to Squirrelflight. She was sharing a sparrow with Brambleclaw. I glared at him.

"Hey Ashfur, you've been staring at Squirrelflight for the last moon!" Sandstorm came padding over to me. "Are you up for a hunting patrol with me and Dustpelt?"

I nodded. "Sure."

"Bring Birchpaw with you," she suggested.

"Okay,"

I went over to where Birchpaw and Whitepaw were playing. "Lets go hunting." I meowed rudely to Birchpaw.

"Can Whitepaw come too?" my apprentice begged. I shrugged. There was something between these two that was more the friendship.

"I suppose," I mewed. "But ask Brackenfur first." I told Whitepaw. Whitepaw shot off towards where her mentor was sharing tongues with Sorreltail. A few seconds later she came bounding over.

"He said I could!" Whitepaw announced happily. Birchpaw gave a yowl of delight, and both of the apprentices shot off towards the thorn barrier where Dustpelt and Sandstorm were waiting.

I sighed. Even my _apprentice_ had better luck than I did when it came to mates. I padded over to the rest of them, and nodded.

"Should we go?" asked Dustpelt, kneading the ground impatiently. "I want to catch something for Ferncloud. She's having another litter soon!"

Sandstorm looked delighted. "That's great, Dustpelt! You both must be very happy."

"We are," he purred.

I looked pointedly at the forest. "Can we go now?"

Without another word, we went out into the forest.

**OoOoOoOoOoO**

I sighed, every warrior on our patrol had caught something except me. Sandstorm had caught a sparrow and a mouse, and Dustpelt had gone after a very fat vole a few moments ago, and had not returned yet. The reason that I was so distracted was because my mind kept wandering to ways I should attempt to kill Brambleclaw. I mean, at least I had a good reason to not have my mind on the hunt!

"Look at this!" Dustpelt came staggering up to them, dragging the vole (which I have to admit was huge...).

"Wow!" I exclaimed, padding up to Dustpelt and sniffed the vole hungrily.

"Hey!" Dustpelt mewed sharply. "That's for _Ferncloud_! I caught it for _her_, not for _you_," he turned his back to me, and started to scrape dirt over his catch.

I glared at him, and a growl rose in my throat. It's not as if I actually wanted it...

"There's a sparrow over there!" Birchpaw meowed loudly. I looked around, and sure enough, there was a sparrow. I instinctively dropped into the hunter's crouch, and inched towards it. I caught it, and killed it with a sharp bite on the neck.

"Nice catch!" Sandstorm mewed approvingly. I nodded, and started scraping dirt over my catch just as Dustpelt had done.

"I still want to catch Whitepaw something." Birchapaw announced.

"You don't have to get me anything!" Whitepaw protested.

"I know," Birchpaw rubbed his muzzle against Whitepaw's while keeping one eye on me. My eyes turned to narrow slits. Sometimes I think that my apprentice is trying to rub it into my face that he had more luck than I did for mates.

I stalked off, and the rest of the patrol followed me deeper into the forest. Soon, Birchpaw caught a shrew, and casting a side-ways glance at Whitepaw, started to gouge out some dirt onto it from the forest floor.

"I think we should start heading back..." Sandstorm mewed after a while later.

"Okay," Dustpelt agreed. "I want to take this vole to Ferncloud." he waved his tail to point to the vole that had dirt on it.

I didn't reply, but just picked up the sparrow that I had caught before. As the smell of the sparrow hit my nostrils, a wonderful idea hit me. An idea that might kill Brambleclaw. An idea that would involve Dustpelt's fat vole for Ferncloud.

**OoOoOoOoOoO**

I quickly placed my sparrow on the fresh-kill pile, and sat on the outside of the clearing behind a bramble-bush where I had a good view of the clearing, but no-one else had a good view of me.

I spotted Brambleclaw at once. He was dragging a twig that was twice as big as he was from inside of the nursery. Dustpelt came in through the entrance of the camp, and looked around the clearing, looking for Ferncloud. I noticed that Dustpelt wasn't wearing his usual smug look. Instead, a troubled gaze was on his face. He dragged his vole close to where I was, and set it down.

"Birchpaw!" he yowled. I pricked my ears, and narrowed my eyes. I had sent Birchpaw to go do battle-training with Brackenfur and Whitepaw recently. And anyway, he was my apprentice, and I didn't want anyone ordering him around. I decided to reveal myself from my hiding place.

"Birchpaw went to do battle-training with Whitepaw a while ago, but I'm sure he'll be back soon. What do you want with him anyway?" I asked him.

"I need to go make dirt," Dustpelt mewed urgently in a low voice to me. "And I don't want any cat to eat this while I'm away," he pointed at the vole with his tail. "It's for Ferncloud." he added.

"I'll keep it, and watch it while you're gone..." I offered, trying to sound casual. If only Dustpelt knew what I was thinking at the moment, he probably would have slashed me. Please say yes! Please say yes! _Please say yes!_

"Oh thanks Ashfur. I'll be back really soon." he dashed off towards the dirt-tunnel. I, meanwhile, picked up the fat vole, and began to inch my way as fast as I could towards the entrance of the camp. I must admit, it was very hard work, because I was really scared that someone would see me.

Anyway, my plan was to hide the vole, and then when Dustpelt asks me where it is, I would say 'It was Brambleclaw! He came and stole it from me and ate it!'

"I'm so good," I said evilly. I kept dragging the vole closer to the entrance of the camp, when none other than Birchpaw, the stupidest apprentice alive came back from battle-training.

"Hi Ashfur!" he yowled excitedly. I flattened my ears. Great, I thought, Now the whole camp knows that I'm here.

"What do you want?" I asked rudely.

"Brackenfur says I'm getting really good at battle-training!" he mewed proudly. "He told me to ask you why you didn't come and watch."

"I had more..." I searched for the right word. "_important_ things to do."

"Oh," Birchpaw looked disappointed.

"Now leave me alone, and let me keep doing my important things." I mewed.

Birchpaw hung his head, and sighed. "Hey," he said slowly. He had noticed the vole. "Isn't that the vole that Dustpelt got for Ferncloud?"

My blood went cold. If Birchpaw figured out that it really was the same one, he would probably tell Dustpelt. "No." I said confidently. "I caught this one by myself."

Birchpaw didn't look convinced, and when I told him to leave me alone, he reluctantly stalked off.

_Finally! _Now my plan can take place. I looked down t the vole, and my mouth started to water. I hadn't eaten for what seemed _moons._ In other words, I was hungry. And this vole looked very tasty. I looked around to make sure no cat was watching me, then gulped it down. Yum. That was one good vole. I flopped down onto my side, and licked my chest, .feeling drowsy.

"Ashfur!" my eyes opened at once. Dustpelt came hurrying up to me.

"What?" I asked.

"Where's the vole?!"

"You mean that vole that you made me keep?"

"Of course I mean that," Dustpelt looked furious.

"Oh, that one!" I mewed slowly. "Brambleclaw stole it from me and ate it."

Dustpelt's eyes widened in disbelief. "You're joking." he growled.

I shook my head theatrically. "I tried to stop him," I mimed falling down. "But he got mad and hit me."

Dustpelt's eyes were blazing with anger. "Brambleclaw-he-you-" Dustpelt tried to come to the right words. "_Why didn't you stop him?!" _he yowled very loudly.

"I already told you! I _tried_, but when Brambleclaw gets angry... No one can control their temper worse than Bramblec-" my words were cut off because I realized that Dustpelt was walking towards the clearing, with a horrible expression on his face.

I followed him with a smirk on my face. This was going to be good.

_"BRAMBLECLAW!!" _Dustpelt launched himself on top of Brambleclaw, and began to growl.

"Wha-?" Brambleclaw was taken off guard, and was looking up at Dustpelt with an expression that was a mixture of confusion, and anger.

"You stole my vole for Ferncloud! _HOW DARE YOU!" _Dustpelt yowled.

The whole camp had turned to watch.

"What do you mean? I didn't do anything!"

"LIES!" bellowed Dustpelt. Wow, this guy really needs to control his temper.

"Hey dad," Birchpaw chipped in. "It's okay, I saw eating Ashfur with a vole like yours. Maybe you can ask him if you can have it."

As I realized what I my apprentice had just said, it was too late to run. Dustpelt swung his head around and glared at me.

"You stole it." he said quietly.

Before I had time to defend myself, Dustpelt launched himself on top of me and started to claw my pelt.

"_OUCH!" _I yowled, and ran as fast as I could towards the forest, while Dustpelt chased me.

Angrily, I thought to myself as Duspelt chased me, Plan B failed. On to Plan C.


	4. Plan C

"Jump! High!" I yowled to my apprentice Birchpaw. Firestar had insisted that I trained Birchpaw, so here we are; battle-training in the sandy hollow.

Birchpaw twisted around in the air, and landed with a thud. He was panting hard. _Serves him right_, I thought, _I mean he ruined my last plan with Dustpelt's vole..._

"Ashfur, when are we going to stop?" my mouse-brained apprentice complained. "We've been training since dawn!"

"We'll stop when you are able to fight better than me." I growled.

Birchpaw collapsed onto his side, and tiredly put his head on his front paws. "But I'm never going to be able to fight better than you," he protested. His voice was muffled because his mouth was under his paw.

"You're right." I mewed. "But I don't want you to shame me."

Birchpaw closed his eyes and sighed.

"Get up." I snarled, prodding him with my paw. "If you sit around all day, you'll never become a warrior!"

"When I look at you, it looks like that's the only thing that a warrior does." Birchpaw grumbled.

"Way to go," I snarled. "You just got yourself into hunting duty now."

Birchpaw got up, and glared at me. "But I promised Whitepaw that we would share a mouse!" he protested.

"So?"

Birchpaw turned his back to me, and stalked off slowly, as if every movement was giving him pain.

"Where do you think you're going?" I demanded to my apprentice.

"Hunting...?"

"By yourself?" I asked.

He shrugged. "Why not?"

"Get a warrior to go with you. Because knowing you, you'll sit around doing nothing."

Birchpaw shook his head sourly. "Why don't _you_ come with me, if you're so worried that I'll get lost?" he taunted.

I shrugged. "_I'm _not worried, but your mother would probably be very disappointed if you died." I added.

"Fine, I'll see if I can go out on the next patrol." Birchpaw hurled the words at me.

"Sure." I meowed sharply. "Just make sure that you don't wander off."

Birchpaw didn't bother to answer, but just merrily waved his tail around. I was about to tell him to show more respect to his elders, when I was interrupted.

"Ashfur! Ashfur!" I turned around, to see Sorreltail trotting up to me.

"What do you want?" I asked.

"Brackenfur told Squirrelflight who told Brambleclaw to tell Ferncloud, who told me to tell you to go back to camp." she mewed in one breath.

I took one look at her, and mewed as politely as I could (and let me add that being polite these days is really hard!), "Can you repeat that please?"

Sorreltail sighed. "Just go back to the clearing."

I sighed too, trying to show her how stupid she was. "Why?"

"Firestar wants to talk to you." She stalked off towards the direction of camp, and I followed.

**OoOoOoOoOoO**

"Ashfur." Firestar greeted me with a nod.

"Firestar," I dipped my head respectfully. "What is it?"

"I would like to talk to you about your training techniques." he gave me a hard look. "Dustpelt tells me that you have neglected your apprentice for a long time, and when you finally got around to actually training him, you worked him too hard."

"And how would Dustpelt know?" I yowled.

"Please keep your voice down." Sandstorm mewed sharply.

"Dustpelt has the right to be worried. Because Birchpaw is his son."

"So he's been spying on me! I knew it! I knew it all-" my voice get louder and louder involuntarily.

"Ashfur, if you don't keep your voice down, I will have to put you on apprentice duties!" Firestar meowed loudly, cutting across my monologue.

"I feel that I train my apprentice very well." I mewed. "And if Dustpelt thinks that I don't, let him train him instead of me." I turned to leave.

"Don't you dare turn your back on us like that!" Dustpelt yowled. I stopped walking. _Dustpelt? _Dustpelt hadn't been there before...?

I turned around. "What're you doing here?" I asked, dumb-founded.

"Well you see," he explained, as if he were explaining something to an idiot. "I live in ThunderClan."

"You don't say!" I mewed, playing along to his game.

"Enough of this." Dustpelt declared. "I don't want to games with a mouse-brained fool."

"Mouse-brained yourself." I retorted.

"That's enough," Firestar meowed diplomatically. Duspelt and I both stopped our bickering immediately. "_Thank _you." he cleared his throat. "Now, Ashfur, if you don't want to be put onto apprentice duties, I suggest you stop."

Leafpool got up from where she was sitting. "If you'll excuse me, I need to go collect herbs, so I'll see you later." she meowed.

"Wait- Leafpool, do you need help?" asked FIrestar.

"Well," Leafpool looked thoughtful for a moment. "A little help would be appreciated..."

"Perfect. Take Ashfur with you." FIrestar gave me a hard look, as if to tell me not to argue.

I opened my mouth to reply, but then thought better of it, and closed it.

"Thank you, Firestar. I'm sure he will be a good help." Leafpool motioned for me to follow, and I, angrily obeyed.

"Today were going to be finding poppy seeds. Because I'm running really low in supplies, and I need them for Ferncloud, since she's having a new litter of kittens." Leafpool explained.

_Thanks for the information, _I thought.

"Poppy seeds are really important for almost everything in healing, and-"

"What are poppy seeds used for?" I asked in a flat voice.

"They're used for making cats go into a sleep that lasts for a while, so that they can either their wounds heal, or when they give birth, or receive a shock."

"In other words...?"

"It makes you go to sleep,"

My ears pricked up. Making Brambleclaw go to sleep could make him very vulnerable, so I could used that for Plan C! I decided at that instant that I _needed _to get some of those pooppy seeds, or whatever they're called.

"What do they look like?" I inquired innocently.

Leafpool scanned the forest floor, and let out a cry of delight. "This is poppy seed." she announced, pointing with her tail to a plant that had round, small, black pods with seeds.

"Want me to go and find some more?" I asked innocently.

Leafpool looked uncertain for a second. "I don't know..."

"We'll find more if we split up," I argued.

Leafpool's look of uncertainty seemed to evaporate, and a look of thoughtfulness replaced it. "Good idea," she mewed. "You go look towards the WindClan border, and I'll look towards ShadowClan." Leafpool instructed.

"Sure," I replied.

"When you have enough, just bring them back to camp..." she looked like she was going to say something else, but I didn't really want to hear it, so I turned tail, and ran the other way, towards the WindClan border.

**OoOoOoOoO**

"Stupid poppy seeds!" I yowled. I had been searching for the cursed seeds for what seemed like _years, _and I _still _hadn't found any!! I sighed, and kept looking. I had to find extra, because I had to get some for my plan, and for Leafpool. So I had to find _a lot _of poppy seeds.

Right when I thought that I wouldn't ever find them, I hit the jackpot! Right in front of me, a huge poppy seed plant!! Yay, finally I can stop this stupid searching, and get on with my Plan!

**OoOoOoOoO**

"Here you go Leafpool," I mewed.

Leafpool looked up from the herbs she was mixing and purred. "Thank you so much Ashfur! I'll never forget this." she picked up the poppy seeds that _I _had picked, and trotted off towards the inside of her den. I watched her go, and then quietly went padding away.

"Hey Ashfur! What're you doing?" my apprentice yowled from the other side of the clearing. I inwardly cursed. I swear, this apprentice has his mind set on ruining my plans.

I turned to face him. "I'm _busy_," I pronounced the word busy as if I was teaching him a new word.

"Busy with what?"

"None of your business." I turned and stalked off, making sure that he wasn't following. I didn't want him to ruin my plan. _Again. _

Once I was safely out of camp, I went over to the bush that I had kept my poppy seeds, and reached my paw under to slide them out. "Here you are!" I mewed out loud, delighted to have found them.

"Here what is?" a voice drifted into my ears.

_"BIRCHPAW! WILL YOU STAY OUT OF MY FUR FOR ONCE IN YOUR LIFE?!" _I whipped around, expecting to see my mouse-brained apprentice. But then I realized that it wasn't my apprentice.

I gulped. "H-hello Sq-squirrelflight." I stuttered. Then I regained my normal perfect self. "You look great," I purred indulgently.

She rolled her eyes. "Right," she turned around. "I was going to ask you if you wanted to come hunting with me, but I guess you're too busy... I'll just go with Brambleclaw then!" she raced off, without giving me a chance to respond.

"Wha-" I cut off. Squirrelflight had just given me an idea... Another idea that involved prey.... Like my last plan that failed....

**OoOoOoOoOoO**

"You're dead," I hissed at a rabbit that was running around on the forest floor. I was hunting, because I needed to have prey for my plan. And I know, that I could just get it from the fresh-kill pile, but I thought that Brambleclaw would probably fall for my plan if the prey was freshly caught. I lunged, and sunk my teeth into the animal's neck.

Now, you're probably wondering what my plan is.... Well, my plan is simply _genius. _And it WON'T fail this time. At least I hope not...

_Any_way, my plan is to stuff this rabbit with poppy seeds, and then give it to Brambleclaw. Then once he eats it, he will get very sleepy, and _then _I will hall him out to the lake and put him on a raft (that I already constructed) and sail him off to the middle of the lake. I amaze myself more and more every day at my intelligence...

I picked up the rabbit, and put the poppy seeds inside it.

**OoOoOoOoOoO**

"Hi Brambleclaw," I mewed to him, my mouth full of rabbit.

Brambleclaw, who was dozing in a patch of sunlight, opened one eye. "Hi Ashfur,"

"I wanted to apologize for being such a mouse-brain..."

Brambleclaw looked puzzled. "How come you just realized it?" he growled. I inwardly scowled. Jeeze, he is such a _pain_.

I shook my handsome head. "I've been thinking," I lied. "I got you this." I put the rabbit at his paws.

He looked shocked. "Thanks!" he started to eat it, and so I padded away. I was waiting for him to go to sleep.......

**OoOoOoOoOoO**

"You're heavy!" I complained. I was hauling Brambleclaw towards the lake, and he boy, was _heavy! _

I sighed, and continued to drag Brambleclaw towards the lake by his scruff. He was fast asleep. I looked up and saw that the lake was coming into view. Finally! Now I can _finally_ get rid of him! Once I arrived at the lake, I was panting from the effort of dragging him around. I mean, I'm not _weak, _but Brambleclaw is _FAT! _Jeeze.

So once I was standing in the sand next to the lake, I got the raft into the water, and thought for a second. Then I decided that the best way to get him on was to get on the raft myself, and then put Brambleclaw on. So I jumped onto the raft that was now a-float, and then attempted to to drag the lump on.

I realized a little too late, that the raft was slowly drifting away into the lake, and away from land. By the time I realized this, however, it was too late, and I was too far away from land to jump safely.

I could have jumped into the water where it was shallow, but I didn't want to get all wet! So I decided that I was going to wait for the raft to come back towards land, and then jump.

But then, as I floated away, realization hit me like a boulder; Plan C had failed. Darn, I thought. Now.... on to plan D....

**Author's Note: Sorry for the wait ppl! And to make up for it, I'll make sure to post a new chapter the exact following date: Febuary 10, 2009. I will make sure that I post it on that date. **

**Till then,**

**Sincerely,**

-✬**Icetail**✬


	5. Plan D

"Ashfur!" someone yowled. I was hiding behind a bush, trying to stay away from my stupid Clan. It was all their fault that I didn't get to kill Brambleclaw! I sulked. Jeeze, why is it so _hard _to murder someone?

"_Ashfur!!!" _the cat yowled again. I flattened my ears; I could sense them coming closer. "Ashfu-" their mew was cut off. "You know, I can see you....? Why are you hiding behind a bush like a silly little kit?"

I felt very foolish now, and slowly climbed out of my hiding place, with my tail trailing on the ground. "What do you want Sandstorm?" I growled.

"I've been looking for you _forever! _Where were you?"

"That is besides the point." I turned my handsome head away, and let out a sigh. "I'm here now."

She looked like she wanted to say something more, but she seemed to shake the thought away. "You're supposed to come with me, Brackenfur, and Cloudtail on a border patrol," she mewed briskly.

"Fine," was my reply. I began to walk away.

"Ashfur, the border patrol is now," she explained, as if talking to a new-born kit. When I didn't respond, she mewed, "I know how hard it must be to be going through Squirrelflight's rejection..." she mewed, obviously trying to comfort me.

I snapped back to reality. "Squirrelfight?"

"I know how it must feel...losing someone,"

"How would you know?" I asked rudely.

"It's-hard to explain..." I nodded understandingly. (Even though I didn't really understand...)

"Anyway," she returned to her normal self. "The border patrol is waiting for us."

"Border patrol." I repeated. "Right, I'll be there!" I turned off, and began to bound away.

"Umm Ashfur... Camp isn't that way..."

"Of course!" I nodded, and followed Sandstorm back to camp.

**OoOoOoOoOoO**

"Let's hunt," Brackenfur suggested as the patrol reached the final border that they were checking.

"Good idea." Sandstorm mewed.

"Should we split up, so that we'll have a better chance of finding prey?" I asked.

"I don't think that's such a good idea..." mewed Sandstorm.

"Why not?" I demanded.

"Well, because ever since the badger attack, there might be a few badgers out there hiding..." Sandstorm trailed off, and shuddered.

Cloudtail looked solemn. "Sandstorm has a point," he meowed.

"Can we just go?!" I asked impatiently. I mean, _honestly!_ Did they have to talk so much?!

"Okay, okay!" Sandstorm rolled her eyes. "Don't bite our tails off...!"

"I wasn't," I said, turning around. "And besides," I added. "Your tails wouldn't taste very good." After making that remark, I felt very smart.

Sandstorm looked at me as if I had said something stupid. "We'll split into groups," she decided quickly. "I'll go with Brackenfur, and Cloudtail will go with Ashfur."

"Fine." everyone nodded, including me.

Cloudtail turned to face me. "Well, lets go." he bounded off into the undergrowth, and I didn't have any choice but to follow.

**OoOoOoOoOoO**

"Nice catch!" Cloudtail yowled his approval as I brought down a blackbird.

"Thanks," I managed to choke out (my mouth was full of feathers...) I scraped some soil over my prey, and then set off to towards the twoleg nest to find something else to kill.

The twoleg nests stank of kittypet smell, and I wrinkled my nose at the foul stench. Cloudtail, on the other hand, just waved his tail around, as if he hadn't noticed anything.

"Why don't we try in there?" he suggested, pointing with his tail towards the houses.

"No way! There are kittypets. and twolegs! Not to mention the stench..." I trailed off, and shuddered.

Cloudtail shrugged. "The smell isn't that bad," he muttered.

In _your _opinion...

"Well, I'm going to try for a mouse or two." without waiting for my reply, Cloudtail took a great leap and scrambled to the top of the fence. I shook my head. There was something wrong with that cat...

I didn't want to be left behind, so I jumped gracefully up onto the fence. The sun was unbelievably bright, and I had to squint my eyes in order to not get blinded. "Cloudtail....?" I called. No answer.

I snorted. Great, now I have to wait for him. My gaze drifted towards the ground of the kittypet den, and I saw that there were ferns and bushes growing.

"What are you doing in _my _garden?" came the snarl of an angry cat. I whirled around, and saw a kittypet picking its way across the fence towards me.

"Oh, this is your garden?" I decided that I would try to make him look stupid.

"I just said that, didn't I?" he spat.

"Not a very pretty garden, is it?" I asked.

The kitty-pet flattened its ears. "Where do you come from then? You smell like dog-dung!" he snarled.

"I don't live in a garden!" I retorted angrily. "I live in a forest."

The kitty-pet lashed out a paw. "I'm not here to have a conversation with some forest-folk." he spat. "Get out of my garden and stop trying to steal my food."

"What- kittypet food?" I scoffed. "Why would I want to steal that soft slop?"

A low growl rose in his throat. "Get away!"

"I don't even want to be here." I prepared myself to make a graceful leap onto the soft forest ground, when something caught my eye. There was something shiny sitting right in front of the two-leg nest.

I cocked my head to one side, unable to with-draw my gaze from the shiny stuff.

"Ashfur?" the question arose from the ground behind me, which was the forest. I tore my gaze away from the hypnotic food bowl, and looked down. Cloudtail was looking up at me, with four mice dangling by their tails from his jaw. "What are you doing there?"

"That's not the question," I mewed fiercely. "The question is, where have you been? You took forever." I looked up at the sky. "I was coming to get you so that we could go back to camp."

Cloudtail shrugged. "I was hunting."

"I see,"

I jumped to the ground net to my Clan-mate. "Lets go," I mewed roughly.

Cloudtail's only answer was a flick of his tail.

As I collected my black bird, an idea was cooking up in my mind. An idea that was about my plan of getting rid of Brambleclaw. But this time, it _WOULD_ work.

**OoOoOoOoOoO**

"I'm going hunting," I meowed loudly to the cats that were sitting near me. A few of them grunted in reply, but others just continued to snooze in the sun.

I snorted; they were so easy to fool. I really didn't think of hunting at all as I retraced my steps to the twoleg nest. You see, what _really_ was on my mind was my new plan. It was simply _brilliant_, and there was simply NO WAY that it would fail.

My plan was to steal the shiny kitty-pet food bowl.

As I was saying before..... once I get the food bowl, I will take it back to camp, and put it next to Brambleclaw's nest while he's asleep. And then, when everyone wakes up in the morning, they will think that he was stealing kitty-pet food. Then of course, Firestar will drive him out of the Clan.

I have revised this plan many times, and have come to the conclusion that it is simply brilliant, and completely fool-proof; so it can't back-fire.

I looked around, to make sure that no cat saw me, then leaped up onto the fence of the twoleg garden.

"Anyone there?" I mewed cautiously.

No answer. I shrugged. If the kittypet from yesterday wasn't here, even better.

The twoleg nest was dead silent. I realized that the twoleg was probably asleep.

Then I saw it. The hypnotic bowl was sitting right in front of the door to the twoleg nest. Not wanting to waste time, I jumped down onto the soft ground of the garden. I crinkled my nose up in disgust; the kittypet had marked its borders, and it smelled _pretty _bad...

But as I said before, I simply _had _to get this bowl to complete my plan. I braced myself, then started to walk over to the hypnotic food bowl. Just as I picked up the bowl in my teeth, I heard a noise that wasn't normal. It sounded like jabbering.

I looked up and narrowed my eyes. "Who's there?" I called out. There was more jabbering. I looked around more, and after concluding that there wasn't anyone there, I returned to my task.

The bowl was _heavy_, and it took me a while to get it over to the fence. "Why are you so heavy?" I demanded to the bowl. It didn't answer, and that angered me greatly. 'Hmph.' I muttered. Then I looked up at the tall twoleg fence that surrounded the garden.

My handsome face fell. It had been hard to get over the fence myself, so how was I going to manage to get the hypnotic food bowl up there? It was a dilemma. And it angered me to realize it.

I picked it up again, and held my head high in the air, posing for invisible fans. Then I fell from the weight. I looked around to make sure no one had seen.

The jabbering noise came again, but this time louder. Much louder. I flattened my ears. "Show yourself!" I spat. But no cat did. Instead, a group of twoleg kits came swarming out of the garden door, and one was holding a net.

**OoOoOoOoOoO**

"LET ME OUT OF HERE!" I yowled at the top of my lungs from the inside of the twoleg nest, that I'd like to mention stank. The twoleg kits had captured me, and then left me in a small room with a big window. I had tried to escape through the clear glass many times, but after many times failing, I learned that it was solid, and that I was trapped.

I breathed out of my nose sharply. Great. Just as Plan D was in action, these stupid twoleg kits had had to come and ruin it. And not to mention that now I'm stuck here and I might never get out!

I yowled pitifully, in hope that some cat somewhere would come and find me. I sulked when they didn't.

**OoOoOoOoOoO**

Hours passed, and I was left in my cage. My prison. I was alone. I hung my head. No one would try to find me. "Don't you care about me?" I yowled to my invisible Clan mates. "Squirrelflight I've always cared about you... and you never loved me!" I mewed dramatically.

Wow, I'm a poet.

I sighed again. Would they never come to find me?

But then it happened; my prayers were answered. Of course, I realized, Squirrelflight must've been frantic looking for me. I inwardly smirked. Brambleclaw would be angry.

Speaking of Brambleclaw... what in the name of ShadowClan's most repulsive elder's dirt was _he_ doing here? I scowled. This was not how my heroic rescue was supposed to take place.

The hated beast jumped down from the fence, and looked around carefully. Then he turned slightly to whisper something to the fence. I rolled my eyes, thinking that he had gone mad. Then suddenly, Squirrelflight jumped down next to him!

My heart skipped a beat! She really did love me! She must have missed me so much, that she had come to save me! Then I froze- there was something wrong with this scene... Squirrelflight was here; but why wasn't she crying from my absence? I shook my head, guessing that she must just be holding back her tears.

The two cats walked carefully to the door of the twoleg, glancing around. "I don't see him," Brambleclaw whispered.

"Must be inside," Squirrelflight guessed.

I yowled from my hiding place. "I'm here! I'm here!" I clawed at the wire mesh.

Squirrelflight suddenly looked up at the cage where I was. "_Ashfur_..? What are you doing in there?" She looked confused.

What did she mean? Hadn't she come to rescue me? "Waiting to be let go," I snapped dramatically. My ears flattened.

Brambleclaw stepped into the door of the twoleg house, and trotted over to my cage. "Don't worry, we'll get you out." He sounded confident, and I narrowed my eyes.

"Well? Hurry up!" I snarled, waiting for him to pick up the pace.

Squirrelflight rolled her eyes. "Relax, Ashfur. Be glad we found you at all,"

"Didn't anyone in the Clan notice I was gone?" I demanded.

The two cats exchanged glances. "Well..." Brambleclaw's voice trailed off.

"I should have known!" I wailed. Then my voice cut off. "Well? Hurry up!" I repeated.

Brambleclaw began to tear at the wire with his claws. "It's too hard!" He gasped.

Squirrelflight's eyes widened. "How will we get him out then?" she asked.

Before the beast could reply, a twoleg came lumbering into the room, and suddenly froze when he saw the new cats. Letting out a yowl of delight, it grabbed the net, catching Brambleclaw easily. I sniffed, feeling slightly pleased. Then it opened the cage, and attempted to put the new cat in with me.

I seized my chance immediately. Quickly, I jumped out of the cage, and took off towards the door. _Great! _I thought. _This is an excellent way to get rid of him!_

I threw a glance over my shoulder, and my heart sank. Brambleclaw was racing towards me, Squirrelflight at her heels. Sulking, I trotted out of the house, jumping gracefully onto the fence. They followed, and together we all ran into the forest again.

Brambleclaw and Squirrelflight stopped to catch their breath, and I did too. Of course, I wasn't tired...

"What were you doing in there?" Squirrelflight demanded.

"They captured me," I panted. "I tried to get out, but it was hard." Then I swept a glare at Brambleclaw.

He rolled his eyes. "The least you could do is say thank you," he muttered.

I imitated him, exaggerating slightly. "I only say thank you to cats that deserve that gift." I sniffed, and stalked past them. "I'm going hunting," I threw the words over my shoulder.

They shrugged. "Just make sure not to get captured again," Squirrelflight advised.

I whipped around to face them and make an angry retort, but they had run off into the forest again. Angrily, I puffed out my chest. "I'll get you next time, Brambleclaw... You just wait."

And thus, I began making preparations for Plan E...

**Sorry for the wait everyone! I know I promised to post a new chapter in February, but jeeze! It's only been about ten months! Calm down ;) **

**I've been really busy with roleplays and lots of other things... I'm working on new fics, and I will make sure to post new chapters for the other fics I have already posted! **

**Sincerely,**

**~Icetail**


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